Jivanmukt: Seekers OC Story
by Trip The Light Fantastically
Summary: This story takes place in India, where a circus makes its rounds. A performing bear wrestles with the desires of freedom and longing. When a violent elephant rampage occurs, he is injured, and is whisked away after this incident into an animal national park where he have a chance to heal his wounds. Emotional and physical. One problem- he hates the feeling of being trapped.
1. Jivanmukti:Chapter One

_Bump... bump... bump._

 _Bump!_

The bear yelped, scooting his paws closer to the shield of his body. Pain flashed hot along his back and his legs, provoking a sharp inhale between bared teeth. His world began to rock around him. His timber sky, his timber ground, and his timber walls rumbled once more before his world lurched forward as if tugged.

He whirled his head to glance behind him, tense with worry. Was the firebeast carrying him finally growing tired? Does that mean this journey will stop soon? Relief and dread wrestled for his attention. Hopefully, the firebeast will pass the multicolored structure... the way the structure swallowed him is a feeling he will never easily shake. All the agony that came with that place too-

A faint breeze halted his distressing memories. The invigorating scent of snow-sky sent a shudder across his fur.

His gaze whipped about, eager to discover the source of the fresh smells. He thrust himself forward by bracing his rear paws against the wall behind him and shoving with all his might. Ignoring his protesting limbs, he crawled to the little emergence of the wind, slowly at first, but quickening as he inched closer. The wind encouraged him by blowing a gust that rippled through his light brown pelt. He panted in excitement, then in satisfaction when he found the origin. A crack in the wooden ground revealed the rapidly rolling dirt and undergrowth beneath him. The gale surged through the gap and directly tickled his snout.

He sneezed. The powerful scent of ice and frost bombarded him. He has smelled nothing, save for the stale air of the firebeast's belly ever since the flatfaces dragged him in here.

He barked, delighted. It was new! His bark dissolved into puffs of mirth.

He never detected a draft inside the ligneous firebeast. Perhaps this could be his own secret... that thought thrilled him more.

His merriment became distracted as he snuffled the tiny hole more. What was it, the middle of snow-sky? He attempted to recall the last time he stepped outdoors. His mind remained fuzzy, lucid only when he remembered those crooked branches-

Panic seized him. It was as if those flatfaces were standing before him again, brandishing those branches high above them to snag his skin. He didn't understand, he didn't think he ever could understand why...

This time, a resonating bellow shattered the scene. The bear scrambled to his paws clumsily- tossing his head from left to right, left to right...

A roar answered the call. It was not him. He recognized the voice of Sadiyya, a white bear the flatfaces captured recently.

"Shut up!" She shouted. He flinched. She's trapped in a firebeast near his. He wished he could rest his chin on her broad shoulder and escape into the natural cadence of her breathing.

He gulped his terror down, which came right back up as he realized the breeze has disappeared. He sniffed the air frantically, only catching the musty odor of oak. Where did the taste of snow-sky go?

His eyes scanned the floor. The opening isn't here! Where did it vanish to? Why is his paw so cold...?

Ah. He removed his paw atop the crevice. The wind burst through and seemed to chide him. It prickled his ears. He pinned his ears in embarrassment.

He sighed and took in the crisp fragrance of snow-sky. The aroma settled into his chest and flowered out. The gale poured ideas into his mind: the dark, barren trees glistening black and white, the sod shimmering silvery in the sunlight, and the ice dangling from the branches; ready to drip cold unto your unprotected nose.

A whimper edged its way out of his mouth. This slot could mean freedom. It smelled like freedom.

He peeked into the cranny. The grass existed just below him, the real grass just pawlengths away. He strived to cram his forepaw into it; however, it couldn't fit. Whenever he did that, the breeze would end and leave him inside the body of the beast. He resolved to never cover the fissure again.

He tried to enjoy the frigid gale as he did before. Yet, he grew restless. Why was escape so near, and so impossible?

His hunger for freedom smoldered in his mind, a blistering pang that blossomed and spread. His claws sunk into the planking.

The wind swelled. Caution trickled into the bear's tired limbs. He could not find the tell-tale weight in the breeze that would suggest a storm. Still, he warily clambered to his feet.

The gale forced itself through the crevice and began to prance around him. It buried its muzzle into his side. It battered its paws at him, barking a playful challenge.

How long has it been, since he play-fought or he frolicked outside?

He yapped in response to the challenge, waving his legs at the breeze. His playmate dodged with ease. It danced beyond his reach, huffing with amusement. The bear joined in.

The wind shifted. It no longer gushed throughout his concealed space. He halted. What happened to his new friend?

He realized his world did not rattle anymore. The firebeast has stopped. He has arrived, for better or for worse.


	2. Jivanmukti:Chapter Two

The bear had a while to wait before he could escape his world.

He laid on the frigid floor, motionless, one paw placed atop the other. He waited for something to happen. For the playful breeze to return, for the firebeast to begin moving again, anything. His jaw set. His chin plopped upon his folded limbs.

Shadows lengthened. The desolate absence of the wind had suddenly become unmanageable to him. To replace the wind, an impatience swelled within him. This eagerness to break out of this world was typical, especially rushing inside him when the time for arrival approached. He began to pace the length of the firebeast belly, claws scraping wood, his gaze locked upon the entrance. The entrance seemed like the rest of this place: just more thin stacks lumber. Nevertheless, the flatfaces managed to make it swing up and allowed another world for him see.

Perhaps he could try again. The bear hesitated. His throat tightened, shrinking away from the twine that never left him.

He learned quick that this twine kept him from racing out into the open. If he stepped one more paw toward the entrance... he gulped. Choking was not a pleasant memory he wanted to repeat.

Bizarre calls tingled his ears. Grumbling flatfaces, resonating barks, and horrible wails. Judging by all this activity, the flatfaces were lugging the other creatures out of their firebeasts. This scene remained familiar to him.

Releasing all the other animals meant the firebeast had stopped by the multicolored dome. His trembling body froze with this thought. He no longer shivered because of his weakness or eagerness; he shuddered in fear. His legs weakened. He closed his eyes and attempted to stay calm. The process was like swimming through slush: shoving his trepidation aside only to have it weigh him down further into panic.

He paced with more vigor. He stumbled, tried to right himself, failed, and his chin collided with the floor. His wounds screamed, serving as vicious reminders of what occurs under that glaring, unnatural sky. _Out! I need out, out, out, out..._ he couldn't control his thoughts. He instinctively denied the truth.

Anywhere but the multicolored structure.

His cubhood persisted as a blur of red agony. His remembrance unearthed nothing from his past- just those flatfaces welding the hooked branches. The scars along his back prickled in protest. They still clobber him with those sticks. They still make him balance atop a tiny flatface thing and make him move it across the ground.

A tang soured his mouth. Blood. His abrupt collapse caused him to sink his teeth into his tongue. He licked his chops to rid himself of the taste.

The bear refused to budge. His distress had grown too much for him to handle. Anxiety trickling throughout him, his closed his eyes and basked in the rush he felt.

Rays of sunlight smacked his eyelids. He yanked them wide open, yelping when he spotted the slim, upright figures of two flatfaces. They murmured to each other, both hefting those familiar branches. He recalled all too well the torment that laid in their paws.

His alarm diminished into a manageable presence; however, his frame still twitched in agitation. His urges to flee quieted with the twine and the snaking threat of choking.

The smaller of the pair tread near him. They seized the twine and yapped to the larger partner, who hurried over and snatched it as well. The bear shied away from them. A growl craved to burst from him; though terror overpowered the instinct.

He huffed at them. The shorter one sniffed in response and jerked him forward. He gasped and propelled himself toward the entrance to elude the wrath of the twine. The bulky one curled his lip in satisfaction.

He lowered his gaze to the timber flooring. Lumber transformed into spiky, white grass- and he took a pace into another world.

The breeze greeted him, inspiring him to glance up. A herd of ligneous firebeasts rested in a haphazard line, stretching far. The landscape was bumpy and cold to his bare pawpads, and no trees survived the horizon. Flatfaces milled about in clumps. The multicolored dome had already appeared, a foreboding lump against the pale blue sky. A massive gray beast raised its floppy snout and produced a stuttering, nervous sound. Barking crashed back at him; despite the gangly creatures not being in sight. He recognized Sadiyya, her white pelt, although dull, still a fierce contrast to the setting around her. She was a few bear-lengths away, and with three flatfaces leading her in the opposite direction, he knew it would be impossible to talk to her.

He heard the bigger flatface say something in a hissing tone. He flinched away from the spectacle to peek at him. Whatever it was saying, it was not directed at him. The bear attempted to relax.

A low buzz rumbled in his ears. He paused, his head cocked, searching for the source. His chest twisted. The only thing that could produce that rumble was the immense brute. He swiveled to face the beast, scuffing the mire below him. Nothing seemed odd, until he raised his gaze into its stare. He tensed.

Those eyes would not stay still. They whirled everywhere, penetrating and yet unfocused. A fresh wave of fright immersed him; he wished to put as much distance as he could between him and those eyes.

The flatfaces jerked at the twine, pulling him from the flood of fear. They wrenched him toward the multicolored dome, but away from those eyes. The gale whispered a reluctant goodbye to him.

Those eyes only left him when the agony begun.


End file.
